Theo froze for a moment.

’That... thing behind us?’

He glanced back, his eyes wide.

Yet nothing was there.

Even so, a shiver couldn’t help but crawl down his spine.

Before he could think any further—

The purple flames around each of Joop’s limbs exploded.

In an instant, he shot forward, soaring through the air like a missile.

Just before he reached one of the dark figures, he spun his foot around, a trail of flames following right behind.

SHHHS!

A massive flaming arc tore through the army of creatures.

The dark figure looked in surprise for a split-second but quickly slammed his hand into the ground.

A bluish mana poured into the ground, raising a huge and insanely thick ice wall in front of him.

The next second—

BOOOOM!

The flaming arc collided with the wall.

Massive purple flames erupted outwards as the wall shattered and disappeared.

Before the man could even react, the flames swallowed him and several dozen creatures around him.

Joop landed lightly in the middle of the area he’d cleared out.

Even with his back hunched forward and his breathing heavy, flames continued to flicker violently around him.

For a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent.

None of the creatures dared approach him and neither did any of the dark figures.

Theo looked on for several seconds too.

’That... he just obliterated a gold-core?!’

’’Whoa,’’ Owen muttered beside him, taking a step forward. ’’Now that’s something.’’

Theo nodded once, then narrowed his eyes again.

Without hesitating for another second, he pulled the spear off his back too.

’’You coming with me?’’ he asked, glancing at Owen.

Owen turned to him with a huge grin.

’’Fuck yeah.’’

The two nodded at each other.

Then Owen jumped forward and slammed the signpost into the ground.

Large rock chunks began floating up around him, then slammed into his body one by one.

Meanwhile, Theo had already locked onto his target.

A dark-clothed figure towards the right side, standing behind a line of creatures.

’That one seems to be a bronze core,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’Perfect to start with and sow disorder in their lines.’

’But since it’s a war... I need to save my mana as carefully as possible.’

He kicked off the ground and shot forward, almost as if the flooded street didn’t bother him anymore.

Theo rapidly sliced through creature after creature as if they were butter.

Only after the first few fell did the dark figure finally realize what was happening.

The figure turned around slowly, revealing a young female face with a large scar running down it.

She looked shocked as her legs began to disappear into a shadow.

But it was already too late.

Lightning crackled violently around Theo’s spear.

SWOOSH!

He swung it horizontally, leaving a trace of lightning in the air.

’’Kg—’’

The girl made one final sound as her head severed from her body.

Thud!

Her body collapsed into the water, massive amounts of blood spilling out instantly.

Theo glanced at her face for a moment longer as her hood pulled back into the water.

’It was someone my age too,’ he thought, shaking his head. ’How disgusting.’

Just then—

His instincts screamed at him to move.

Theo’s eyes went wide immediately.

With all his strength, he kicked himself off the ground.

Pop!

BOOOM!

The water underneath him exploded in an instant.

Right then, Theo’s gaze snapped into the distance.

There, another dark-clothed figure stood with a large grin on his face.

Before Theo had even landed, the blood in the water began to move.

It flew into the sky, soaring towards the man.

As it reached him, it instantly formed into several long blood spears.

’Blood element?’ Theo thought, landing in the water.

Then his gaze sharpened.

’Never fought that before.’

SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK!

The spears shot towards him.

Theo clenched his jaw as he pushed water mana out of his core.

As a wave of water started swirling around his spear, he began spinning it in front of him.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three spears hit the water, two others just barely missed him.

A frown appeared on his face as the water slowly turned a deep red color.

Then—

POP!

The murky water exploded.

Theo slid to a halt, his arms stinging from the impact.

’What the hell?’

The dark-clothed figure grinned slightly after seeing his reaction.

He pulled a dozen tiny throwing knives out of his pocket immediately.

Theo immediately pulled more water mana out of his core, preparing to put up an actual shield.

But—

The man suddenly spun around in a circle.

All around him, creatures began to fall over one after another, throwing knives penetrating their skulls.

’’Are you ready to dance?!" the man shouted, laughing manically.

Theo’s expression darkened slightly.

Blue and red blood began flowing from the corpses, this time forming dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller needles in the sky.

The dark-clothed man spread his arms wide, laughter echoing throughout the battlefield.

’’Dance! Dance! DANCE!’’ he shouted, spinning around again. ’’DANCE FOR THE BLOOD GOD!’’

WHOOSH!

The blood needles shot forward in an instant.

Some slower ones were aimed at his front, while other super fast ones missed him completely, only to spin back around afterwards.

Theo’s eyes went wide as he gritted his teeth.

’Who the fuck is this maniac?!’

His mind raced, rapidly circling through options.

’Can’t use water... need to escape...’

’One option. Lightning Step.’

That’s when lightning began appearing around his feet.

In an instant, his body vanished from its spot, only reappearing several yards away.

BOOOOM!!!

Hundreds of needles pierced into the flooded street where he’d just stood.

’’Good dance!’’ the man shouted again. ’’Where is the second verse Mister Champion?!’’

The corpses around him completely shriveled up, more blood gathering all around him.

Theo glanced up, his teeth grinding on each other from pain as lightning crackled through the water underneath him.

’Blood element is this peculiar?’ he thought, locking eyes with the man. ’Since when could it explode like this?’

The man’s grin widened even further after seeing Theo’s expression.

"Oh?" he laughed loudly. "You don’t know?!"

The blood swirling around him suddenly began rotating faster and faster.

’’But we know all about you!’’

WHOOSH!

Another wave of blood needles shot toward Theo from every direction.

Theo immediately kicked off the flooded street again.

Lightning burst beneath his feet as he vanished from his original position.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The blood needles exploded one after another behind him, tearing apart both the water and the street.

This time, he reappeared in between a group of creatures.

Each of them turned to him immediately, their eyes filled with a strange kind of madness.

Theo reacted instantly, spinning around and slicing through everything close to him.

Yet... before the corpses even hit the ground—

They began floating into the air, visibly shriveling as blood trickled towards the man again.

He laughed loudly, shaking his head.

’’Can’t use lightning beams when you are constantly attacked, can you?"

Instead of needles, they gathered up into several long spears this time.

’Shit!’

Theo jumped back right away, a water shield appearing in front of him.

The spears flew towards him, reaching him within a second.

POP! POP! POP!

Each of them plunged into the water and dissipated.

As the murky liquid swirled around inside, Theo jumped back again.

BOOM!

The water shield exploded again.

’’It’s impossible!" the man shouted again. ’’I was chosen as the perfect counter against you!"

Theo’s expression darkened even further hearing that.

This bastard wasn’t just strong. He’d specifically been prepared to deal with him.

The blood-element user suddenly burst into laughter again, spreading his arms wide.

"Can you feel it?!" he shouted wildly. "The pressure?! The fear?!"

More blood rapidly gathered around him, twisting together into four massive rotating crosses this time.

Theo immediately narrowed his eyes.

’They are different from the others.’

The next second, thin blood ropes began to appear on each of the ends of the crosses.

’Not good!’

The man suddenly pointed forward dramatically.

"Third verse!" he screamed. "COME ON, MISTER CHAMPION!"

WHOOSH!!!

The massive blood crosses shot forward.

They twirled violently through the air, the long blood ropes intertwining with each other like spinning blades.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

The attack covered almost his entire field of movement with his Lightning Step.

’This bastard...’

His only escape with Lightning Step would be using it twice in a row and perfectly in the ropes.

Which was impossible with a spell he hadn’t nearly mastered.

The blood crosses rapidly closed in from different angles, the spinning ropes slicing through the nearby creatures.

With no other option, Theo crouched down and formed a massive water bubble around him.

Next second—

The spinning blood ropes slammed into it.

Thud!

The entire shield shook violently.

But instead of pouring blood into the water as Theo had expected...

The ropes pulled the crosses back around, wrapping him in completely.

Theo’s pupils shrank instantly.

’FUCK!’

The spinning blood ropes tightened around the water bubble like chains, the massive crosses continuing to rotate around him at terrifying speed.

At the same time, thin trails of blood began dispersing into the water itself.

The blood user’s grin widened even further afterward.

"Yes!" he shouted excitedly. "THAT’S IT!"

’’Now THIS is a beautiful final verse!’’